LONDON (Reuters) – British public borrowing was a larger-than-expected 14.5 billion pounds ($18.75 billion) in June, the Office for National Statistics said on Friday, highlighting the budget challenges facing the new government of Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Economists polled by Reuters had a median forecast of 11.5 billion pounds for public sector net borrowing, excluding state-controlled banks.
The figure for June was almost 3 billion pounds higher than expected by Britain’s budget watchdog whose forecasts underpin the tax and spending plans of British governments.
New finance minister Rachel Reeves is likely to announce her first budget after the summer recess of parliament. She and Starmer have ruled out increases in the rates of income tax, corporation tax and value-added tax, leaving her little room for manoeuvre to improve public services and boost investment.
($1 = 0.7732 pounds)